The present invention relates to notification systems of the type used to inform a number of users of a communications network of an emergency or commercial opportunity, and more specifically, to a notification system for use in a wireless network that more efficiently uses network resources and infrastructure to provide location specific notifications.
There are many situations in which public safety or another public interest would benefit from notifying a number of people about an event or expected event. For example, a government entity may wish to notify all people living within some defined zone of an impending storm, a serious accident, or an activity that they need to be aware of. Further, a commercial entity may wish to inform a large number of people within a certain region of a commerce opportunity that may be of interest to them. Thus, the area of location specific notifications is one of interest to both public agencies and commercial businesses.
As mobile wireless phones and technology have become adopted and utilized by a large percentage of people, they have been recognized as a convenient and effective means for informing people of events or otherwise communicating with them. For example, in case of an emergency (criminal activity, weather event, serious accident, etc.), it would be beneficial to be able to notify all or a large percentage of mobile phone users within a prescribed geographic area of the event.
Although a wide scale broadcast to all mobile phone numbers currently within a specific area is theoretically possible, there are practical reasons that make it inefficient or otherwise undesirable to implement. For example, at present only a network cell level broadcast is available (that is sending a message to all recipients within a cell), and even then only for certain network topologies (e.g., GSM) and/or message delivery options (e.g., SMS messages). This approach may lack the resolution required for an effective system and produce unwanted or irrelevant messages to a large number of users. Furthermore, implementing this approach requires equipment upgrades for some carriers, and is not certain to be adopted by regulatory agencies.
A second approach to notification systems is one based on targeting the message to a specific set of users, as opposed to a broadcast to all users capable of receiving the message. In this approach, the set of recipients is determined based on a characteristic of a user other than their ability to receive a message broadcast within a cell site reception zone. For example, a system may be based on registration by a set of users interested in receiving a message regarding a certain event or topic. When an event of interest occurs, only those registered users are sent a message. This approach has the disadvantage that since it relies on a user to subscribe or register, not every user to whom the message is relevant will receive it. This has serious ramifications if, for example, the message being provided relates to an emergency situation or one in which all mobile phone users within a prescribed area need to be informed of a situation (e.g., an AMBER Alert or other such indicator of potentially dangerous or criminal activity). Similarly, if the registration process involves providing the user's residence or work location, the method cannot have any greater resolution than the data used to define that information. Furthermore, because each user is associated with a static location (e.g., a zip code, a neighborhood, an address, etc.), notifications regarding those locations would be sent regardless of where the user is actually located. The result may be a spamming effect in which a user receives a large number of notifications that go unread because most are deemed irrelevant.
Another method of providing a notification system involves the use of network probes. Using a network probe, a system can obtain user location information by passively monitoring network location traffic to a home location register (HLR) or between other network components. A disadvantage of such methods is that they require extensive use of network resources and increase the overall network traffic, thereby contributing to undesirable latency and network capacity issues. In addition, coordination of the various data sources and processing elements, and troubleshooting can be more than trivial problems. Furthermore, network probe methods introduce privacy issues as the subscribers are unaware of the tracking of their location and messaging behaviors.
The wireless industry plans to provide an SMS-based service that is similar to the Wireless AMBER Alert service. As this solution still has some disadvantages, it is not believed to be the optimal or long-term solution. For example, an SMS-based solution utilizing existing capabilities will suffer from disadvantages that include significant impact on network congestion when an alert is sent, potential latency in delivery of messages, and a limitation on what type and how much information can be provided. It is noted that an SMS-based service has an advantage over certain possible solutions being considered because it is a capability that can be enabled in networks such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), and integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN), and is available on a large number of phones in use.
In order to address concerns regarding the impact of an alert system on wireless networks, the wireless industry has proposed that three specific requirements be incorporated. First, that the system be opt-in based on a specified zip code as with Wireless AMBER Alerts. While this will require that consumers affirmatively request the service, it also may, depending on the number of consumers that subscribe, help to control impact on the network (while still potentially informing citizens that wish to be notified via wireless phone who otherwise may not be aware of an emergency). Combining this wireless service with alerts from other communications platforms may increase the likelihood of a successful consumer notification.
The second requirement is that the interim service should only transmit Presidential or Governor-level messages for the present time. Again, this will limit the impact on the wireless network so that during times of crises, the networks can be utilized by consumers, first responders, and those key government employees that rely upon Wireless Priority Service.
The third requirement is that government should commit to delivering messages to one point (e.g., network element or node) in the wireless network, as is the case with the existing Wireless AMBER Alert Program. It is hoped that by adopting these three requirements, government effectively will balance the desire to send emergency alerts over multiple communications platforms, including wireless, against the need to keep the wireless networks functioning efficiently during an emergency.
An effective notification or alert system offers many safety and commercial benefits. However, while the currently proposed solutions hold promise, none are operational in wireless networks today. In addition, the proposed solutions suffer from one or more significant disadvantages. Some of the solutions, as proposed, will require a complete reworking of networks, some only work on certain platforms (CDMA vs. GSM vs. iDEN), some are not scalable to a nationwide level, and many would require consumers to change-out their handsets.